Condiment container supporting bracket



Dec. 10, 1957 P. H. BAKER CONDIMENT CONTAINER SUPPORTING BRACKET Filed Oct. 10, 1955 F nal H. Baker IN V EN TOR. I 20 BY EMa United States Patent 2,8 15,919 Patented Dec. 10, 1957 CONDINIENT CONTAINER SUPPORTING BRACKET Paul H. Baker, Kendallville, Ind. Application October 10, 1955, Serial No. 539,339

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-222) The present invention relates to an accessory which is expressly, although not necessarily, structurally and functionally designed to be used within the confines of the receptacle portion of a workmans lunch-box or socalled pail and which, more specifically, is a bracket and is appropriately constructed to accommodatingly support a condiment holder, for example, a salt or pepper shaker.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical, economical and structurally efficient bracket which serves to accessibly shelve a salt shaker or the like in a corner portion of a conventional type lunch-box and which otherwise serves its intended purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a special purpose salt shaker or condiment holder support bracket which is preferably constructed of sheet material and which may be readily applied and removed in a corner portion of the receptacle part of a workmans lunch-box and which may be expeditiously manufactured, which will appeal to retailers of lunch pails and which, more importantly, will appreciably assist and comply with the needs of lunch pail users.

In carrying out a preferred embodiment of the invention, the components which cooperate in defining the stated bracket are such that the finished article resembles what may be described as a miniature corner shelf, one which is fitted into the corner of the lunch-box, that is, the receptacle portion thereof, and which has hanger hooks to engage over the upper edges of the walls of the box and which has spring clips or fingers to partly embrace and to effectually but removably maintain the condiment holder in a handy and ready-to-use position.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a corner portion of a conventional workmans lunch-box and showing the improved condiment supporting holder or bracket and the manner in which it is used.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the bracket by itself.

Figure 3 is a section on the vertical line 33 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

In the drawings in Figure 1, the lunch pail or box comprises the usual rectangular or equivalent body or receptacle portion 6 which is open at its top and is closed by an appropriate cover or lid 8 such as is customarily hingedly mounted in place. The article to be accommodated and held in an accessible upper corner portion of the receptacle or box 6 is a condiment holder. Specifically, this may be referred to here as a salt or pepper shaker 10; As already stated, this is accessibly shelved in the upper corner portion of the box, where it is easy to attach and detach, all in a manner to serve the needs and purposes of the lunch-box user.

As is clear from the disclosure so far touched upon, the invention, generally classified, is preferably a readily applicable and removable bracket which is characterized by a shelf. It is believed to be within the purview of the concept, however, to actually build such a corner-type shelf in the original box if so desired. So, although the attachment is usually a structural entity in and of itself, it is broadly a horizontal shelf 12 which seats the salt shaker and which is characterized by a pair of complemental, flexibly resilient clips 14 having their free ends 16 spaced apart and flared away from the walls of the receptacle 6 to facilitate catching hold of the salt shaker and withdrawing it from the corner space and shelf for use; or, alternatively, pressing it down on the shelf and permitting the clips to clasp and hold it in place. More specifically, the invention is a readily applicable and removable shelf-equipped bracket which is denoted by the numeral 18 and which is preferably of sheet material. There are two vertically disposed walls 20 and these are at right angles to each other and are connected together along adjacent edges, as at 22. There is a V-shaped cut-out 24 between what may be called the upper portions of the walls. The extreme upper ends are bent out at 24 and down at 26 to define attaching and suspending hooks. These hooks engage over the upper edge portions of the walls 28 of the lunchbox and thus fittingly hold the bracket in the available corner portion or space. The lower ends of the walls have cooperating flanges 30 and 32 which, together, define the aforementioned shelf 12. The intermediate portions of the edges of the walls 20 are provided with the aforementioned flexibly resilient clips comprising the features 14 and 16.

Briefly reviewed, the attachable and detachable bracket therefore comprises a pair of vertical right angularly disposed walls having attaching and suspension hooks on their upper ends and having their lower ends joined together by a horizontal shelf, suitable clips or clasps being provided on adjacent edge portions of the walls to removably seat the condiment holder or salt shaker on the shelf.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

For use in conjunction with a conventional-type lunchbox having a bottom and upstanding side and end walls defining vertical corners with the walls disposed at approximate right angles to each other, a readily insertable and removable supporting bracket whereby a suitably accessible and sized salt shaker may be bracketed and suspended in the upper corner portion of the lunch-box, said bracket comprising a one-piece sheet material entity embodying a single pair of vertically elongated right 3 angularly disposed walls having their upper end portions of adjacent marginal edges spaced apart and terminating in downturned bends defining attaching hooks which are adapted to engage over the upper edges of the walls of the lunch-box in a manner to position and suspend the bracket in a corner of said lunch-box with the walls of the bracket contacting the interior surfaces of the vertical corner-forming walls of the box, the lower end portions of said bracket walls having lateral flanges directed toward each other, disposed in a horizontal plane, overlapping each other and defining a shaker shelf which, when in use, is disposed on a plane below the upper edge of the walls of the lunch-box and above the bottornof the lunch-box so that the salt shaker may be accessibly and handily inserted and removed, and intermediate vertical edge portions of the walls of said bracket having References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 505,230 Robinson Sept. 19, 1893 1,086,541 Lailer Feb. 10, 1914 2,289,701 Engel et a1. July 14, 1942 2,302,170 Basler Nov. 17, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 190,540 Great Britain Dec. 27, 1922 

